Vending machine theft suspects identified
COURTESY NODAWAY COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Misdemeanor charges have been filed against the two men photographed in this surveillance video image while apparently forcing open a soft drink machine at the front entrance to The Smokehouse delicatessen and meat market in Graham. The suspects, identified in court documents as Jason Wesley Payne, Blue Springs, foreground, and James Ross Haynes, Oak Grove, were still at large as of Thursday.
Formal misdemeanor charges have been filed and warrants issued in a Nodaway County Sheriff’s Office investigation into a soft drink machine theft captured by a surveillance camera at a store in Graham in the early hours of Friday, Sept. 22.
Both suspects remain at large, Sheriff Randy Strong said Thursday.
Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice has filed charges of Class B misdemeanor property damage and Class D misdemeanor stealing against James Ross Haynes, 28, Oak Grove, and Jason Wesley Payne, 41, Blue Springs.
Both cities are located in Jackson County on the eastern edge of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
According to court documents, the two men allegedly broke into the soda machine, located near the front entrance to The Smokehouse delicatessen and meat market on Jackson Street in Graham, about 2 a.m.
Sheriff Randy Strong said the machine has been broken into several times in the past, which led the owner to install the high-quality surveillance camera system that captured the incident on video.
Strong said the suspects escaped in a white Cadillac. Court documents state the thieves made away with approximately $30.
Still images from the video were posted on social media, and on Sept. 27 authorities received calls from citizens who identified the suspects by name.
In a probable cause statement, Sheriff’s Office Detective Zach Long said he was able to link the suspects’ names with the faces appearing in the video using photographs obtained from a couple of sources, including Facebook.
Should the men be arrested, tried and convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
